Grasshopper Chapel
Grasshopper Chapel, Cold Spring Minnesota
THROUGHOUT THE 1800S, THE UNITED States dealt with repeated plagues of locusts. They would come and go, but in 1873 they decimated serval areas of the upper Midwest. The grasshoppers hatched from eggs laid the previous year and the plagues started all over again. And this cycle repeated for years. The grasshoppers ate anything they came into contact with, crops, fruit, wood, and even clothes. The people of the midwest tried to fight back, but the swarms of grasshoppers were too large. In April, 1877, the Minnesota governor enacted a statewide day of prayer, but to no avail. Believing perhaps something more was needed, in July 1877, construction began on a hilltop chapel overlooking Cold Spring. Any mysteriously, around the same time that construction began, the swarms of grasshoppers flew away. By the time the church was complete not a single grasshopper could be found. And since the grasshoppers did not remain long enough that summer to lay eggs, they did not return the next year. More so they did not return any other year and the species went on to become extinct less than 30 years later, making North America the only continent, besides Antarctica, to lack a major locust species. In 1894, the original chapel was destroyed by a tornado and the hilltop stood empty for decades. In 1952, a new chapel was built to replace the original. It has no pews inside, only an altar and four stained glass windows. Displayed prominently near the altar is the statue of the Virgin Mary from the original chapel. Over the entryway to the church is a relief of the Virgin Mary with two grasshoppers, kneeling on each side of her. Outside of the chapel, the Stations of the Cross can be found. www.highergrounddrone.com #forestlakemn #wyomingmn #chisagolakes #centercitymn #stacymn #meinminnesota #explorechisagolakes #lakesareachamber #lindstrommn
